Public Safety Realignment Public Planning Sessions

(Woodland, CA) – Assembly Bill 109, Public Safety Realignment was enacted in 2011 in an effort to reduce state prison overcrowding by placing supervision and incarceration responsibilities for non-serious, non-sexual and non-violent offenders with local county criminal justice systems. To aid Yolo County in strengthening its related planning efforts, the Crime and Justice Institute was engaged to develop an assessment and assist the county’s criminal justice partners in a strategic planning process.

The Crime and Justice Institute conducted internal strategic planning sessions to develop a mission, goals and objectives to provide structure to Yolo County law enforcement operations. For background on the planning to date, visit: http://www.yolocounty.org/home/showdocument?id=25457. The Board of Supervisors is now expanding the process with four public outreach and planning meetings to identify public priorities for consideration in further development of objectives for the criminal justice system.

In the last two years, Yolo County has mitigated the impacts of AB 109 through: re-opening jail beds; expanding community supervision; establishing substance abuse treatment programming for re-entering from prison and jail; strengthening court responses through support to the District Attorney’s office; reducing barriers to successful re-entry with projects in the Public Defender’s office; and establishment of a Day Reporting Center to reduce recidivism within the county’s known criminal population.

The four hour and a half public outreach and planning meetings (schedule below) have been arranged to engage Yolo County residents in developing countywide objectives to further enhance local public safety. Members of the Board of Supervisors will open and introduce the planning process followed by presentations and subsequent breakout planning sessions begin. Facilitation of the meetings will jointly be led by Chief Probation Officer Brent Cardall, District Attorney Jeff Reisig and Sheriff Ed Prieto, along with members of the Community Corrections Partnership.